“Apple Inc. suppliers in China will begin mass production of its largest iPhones ever next month, according to people familiar with the plans, as the smartphone maker faces increased competition,” Tim Culpan and Peter Burrows report for Bloomberg.

“Apple is ramping up on two bigger devices, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private,” Culpan and Burrows report. “One model will have a 4.7-inch display, compared to the 4-inch screen of the current iPhone 5s, that may be available to ship to retailers around September, said two of the people. A 5.5-inch version is also being prepared for manufacturing and may be available at the same time, the people said.”

Culpan and Burrows claim, “Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is under pressure to reignite Apple’s sales growth and the iPhone, which generates more than half of the company’s annual revenue, remains his chief weapon.”

MacDailyNews Take: He is? From whom? Know-nothings, that’s who.

In Q214, ended March 29, 2014, Apple sold 43,719,000 iPhones resulting in revenue of $26,064,000,000 – year-over-year increases of 17% and 14%, respectively.

Culpan and Burrows report, “The new iPhones will also be rounder and thinner than previous models, said one of the people. Production of the 5.5-inch model is more complicated than the smaller version, resulting in lower production efficiency that must be overcome before manufacturing volume can be increased, said the person. Apple is developing new iPhone designs including bigger screens with curved glass and enhanced sensors that can detect different levels of pressure, Bloomberg News reported in November. Called 2.5-dimension glass, the material lets manufacturers taper the edges of the screen where the bezel meets the frame of a smartphone.”

I don’t get how a larger device is more complicated to build. The only component is the screen since the larger surface area means more room for failure.
Other than that there is larger volume inside the device even if it is thinner. Not sure if I believe the curved glass or multi-pressure sensor feature.
Apple biggest problem is sheer volume. With 4 potential models with different form factors balancing production volume will be tricky. The new product release is typically in mid to late Sept so Apple will need to have ~10M phones in the channel. Assuming the 4C and 4S are keeping the same form, then the ramp for those will be relatively easy.
It’s good that Apple are starting to ramp the larger phones. Hopefully Apple will have their sales projections right and build sufficient quantity. There appears to be a lot of pent up demand if Samsung’s lack of sales of the G5 are to be believed.